Emergency Medical Service Personnel (EMS), firefighters and others involved in emergency health situations are often faced with moving an injured or incapacitated person through a confined space or down one or more flights of stairs. Conventionally, such persons are immobilized on a flat backboard for transfer to a suitable area where they can be transferred to a gurney for transportation to a hospital in an ambulance. To maneuver the board and immobilized patient through a narrow door or through a hall with tight turns requires substantial effort on the part of the personnel carrying the board. Similarly, carrying a board and patient down a flight of stairs can impose a strain on the back of those carrying the board. Except in those situations where a small child is being extricated, it will be seen that a board on which is carried a normal size person (male or female) represents a substantial amount of weight. Back injuries among firefighters and EMS personnel resulting from carrying and maneuvering patients on backboards down stairs and through confined areas are common resulting in time lost from the job, health care costs and suffering by the personnel injured.